AFRICA’S biggest eagle is the martial eagle, with a weight of up to 6kg and a wingspan stretching 2.6m.
This predator is widespread throughout South Africa, except the Drakensberg and South Western Cape.
Their numbers are drastically reduced and they are found mainly in protected areas.
Its territory can be from 1,000sq/km to as small as 10 square km, depending on the availability of food. The voice, although mostly silent, does gulp near the nest and is emits an occasional musical, ringing ‘ko-wee-o ko -wee-o’.
The martial eagle likes woodland, savanna or grassland with clumps of large trees and power pylons for its nest sites.
It has shy habits and avoids man. If is found to be solitary or in pairs.
This eagle soars to great heights where it hunts by scanning the ground, stooping in a shallow dive. It is powerful enough to break the skull of young springbok and duikers with its feet and talons.
The martial eagle feeds on small mammals including domestic pets, hares, mongoose, dassies, game birds, waterfowl, storks, reptiles, snakes and monitor lizards. It breeds from February to August.
The nest is a large basin of thick sticks lined with leaves, 2m diameter and 2mm deep. It lays one egg which is white to pale greenish blue. Incubation lasts 47 to 51 days, and the young remain nestlings for 96 to 99 days. The young are fed by the mother from food provided by the father.
The young are dependent on their parents for three to eight months after their first flight.
Its Zulu name is isiHuhwa.
